Underground
by Austin Carlile is my hero
Summary: After Chloe summons the cemetery and returns to Andrew's, she sits outside for fresh air and some alone time. The E.G. finds her and takes her away to their new underground facility, after two years and several more experiments, she escapes. Will she be able to find the others?
1. Chapter 1

_"Can we live without death? Can we love without hate? Can we want without need? Do we ever really live our lives enough to appreciate that we can never truly grasp one without the other? For the concept has no meaning without an opposing force. If hate is what's inside us, hate is what defines us. And they will use our hate to drive us; let hate not deprive us. Do we want this? Or do we need this?"_  
-Chris 'Motionless' Cerulli, 'Creatures'

You can always rinse the surface, but the stain will remain.  
Every single torturous, terrorizing memory that I tried to remove from my twisted mind always returned in a horrifying nightmare.  
Tonight was one of those nights.  
"Now, Chloe," Dr. Davidoff's voice crooned in my head. My heart pounded in fear. "Just close your eyes and brace yourself. It'll all be over soon. I promise. You've done a great job so far."  
I remained silent. I desperately yearned to reply back, but I feared that bile would spew from my mouth if I opened it. I swallowed hard.  
"Dr. Phelps will be here shortly. I'm worried I'll mess this up. He's a shaman. We'll need him if anything goes wrong in the slightest- if something of that nature were to happen, you'd feel nothing but agonizing pain."  
"This is amazing," Diane Enright said to her boss. "We're making a new type of supernatural. We're the firsts to do it. What do you think will happen?" She continued to question him. I blocked out her voice.  
I was going to die. I couldn't live through this.  
But honestly, I didn't care if I died. All of this would be over with. There was nobody for me to see. Nobody to care. I was absolutely fine with never seeing the world again if it meant all of this would end.  
Green eyes gazed at me in my imagination. "Chloe, you don't even realize how much you'd regret it. You're worth WAY more than you realize," he said.  
I was always thinking about the day I was ripped away from them. After returning to Andrew's from the cemetery I had raised, I had ran into the woods. Too scared to face Derek's disapproving gaze, hear his angry words. I was already being eaten away by the guilt. He wouldn't help that.  
I was a monster. SO MANY innocent people died and it wasn't their faults. They had been blessings in their families' lives. And they died.  
And I had raised them back.  
The Edison Group had waiting for me to go deep into the woods. They had tracked us and kept their distance, simply seeing what we would do because they had known they could catch is whenever they wanted. Once I saw Davidoff, smiling at me, I knew that I would be stuck with the Edison Group forever.  
Davidoff's voice brought me back to reality. "Alright, Chloe, we're gonna keep you awake the whole time. It'll be painful, but if you're not awake, we won't be able to complete this. It'll ALL be over soon."  
Internally, I rolled my eyes. Even after showing my disgust of him, he pretended like I was his granddaughter, talking to me like I was his own child.  
"Are you _sure_ there aren't any drugs in her system?" Diane inquired in a whisper, thinking I couldn't here her.  
"I checked twice. I'm positive. And I'm sure she's dying to get back to her cigars." His whispered words were true. I was ready for this to be over so I could have a beer with Jack and watch a football game. Smoke afterwards.  
"Alright then,"Diane mumbled. Then louder, "Let's get this over with! Mike, is everything ready?"  
"Yep. It shouldn't take long Phelps gets here, along with Banks."  
Tyler Banks. The poltergeist from Andrew's- Royce, I now knew -had a father who was still alive. He was going to be the one drilling things into me. Literally.  
I shot up in bed, gasping for air. Remembering the unbearable agony that had ripped through me when they put something into my blood. Something they never told me the name of. Remembering the sorry look on Tyler's face before he pulled the lever.  
It was a scene from XMen Origins: Wolverine. Several supernatural scientists simply observing. Others causing me to feel such pain by pulling levers and drilling things into me.  
Dr. Davidoff thought it would be a good idea to make a new type of supernatural. He gave me the ability to change into any person I wanted. I would be able to actually use that ability if they let me up.  
I was stuck down here. Underground. It was a horrible place. No sunlight, no moonlight, no happiness, no warmth.  
I reached over to my drawer. A minute later, I was smoking a cigar, trying to calm myself down. Looking at the clock, I sighed. Two in the morning. I wouldn't fall back asleep. Might as well roam the halls and think about how much of a failure I was, despite how many times said I was a success.  
I left the room, shutting the wooden door behind me as silently as I could. There were very few people in this wing, but I still didn't risk waking them up.  
Slowly, I walked down the hallway. I took a long drag and tried to remember the few times in my life I was genuinely happy. After the Edison Group captured me again, and not the others, it was like all good memories were completely erased from my mind.  
I'm sure you're wondering why I would even touch alcohol, or hold a cig. But I'm here wondering why it was the only thing that took away the pain and fear and all the bad from my life, even if it were for a moment. A few months after living down here, I met Alan. He had red hair, several tattoos, and was about as tall as Derek. As soon as I sat on a couch in the gaming room- a luxury that was taken away after I gained new powers -next to him, we had enjoyed some Saints Row 2 and became fast friends. I finally had someone to talk to. An awesome, funny, nice guy who had gone through crap similar to what I had been through.  
Then, Alan had to capture supernaturals for the Edison Group. Whether they were experimented on or not, the were starting more and more projects with 'subjects' of all ages. Since they trusted Alan, and he had given up on fighting them, he was sent out to find willing supernaturals, and capture runaway experiments like I had once been.  
He was rarely around anymore. Always busy, always too tired to do something, always talking to Davidoff. I was alone. There weren't many people in the underground facility who weren't here unwillingly. It seemed as if I was the only one.  
Then came along Jack. A Project Icarus runaway. He was being held captive as well. We got along easily, even better than Alan and I had. He wasn't afraid to crap talk Edison in front of Edison Group workers, unlike Alan. He made me see just how wrong they were to keep us here. He gave me hope that we would eventually escape and live our lives without someone constantly observing our every move.  
Jack also convinced me to try one sip of his beer. After spending a whole year underground, I didn't care what it would cause me to do or what effect it would have on me. I had nothing better to do. Why not?  
A few months later, I was already an alcoholic. Davidoff didn't care that neither of us were of age. He thought that if he gave us something we wanted, we would be happy and wouldn't complain and actually enjoy being here. Total idiot.  
I didn't need Jack to encourage me to try a cigarette. If I could easily down beer, why not try cigarettes and heavier drinks as well? And cigarettes were always available from workers. They were surprisingly okay with letting you try their own cigarettes. I started buying packs from them- whether I actually used money or not, I would always repay them for cigarettes. Yeah, I went there, for those of you with dirty minds.  
Now, eight months later, I realized just how much I had changed in those two years. My fifteen-year-old self would look at my soon to be eighteen-year-old self with disgust. I used to be a shy, sweet, innocent little girl who almost every one of Dad and Aunt Lauren's friends would adore. Now, I was a monstrous, nasty, alcoholic, addicted, freaky little girl that their friends would cross the street to avoid. I became somebody that I never wanted to be.  
All because of a beer can and because I was done with everything. It wasn't like I had anyone who was looking for me up on ground level. Dad and Aunt Lauren were dead. Simon, Tori, and Derek probably stopped looking for me- if they looked for me at all. It wasn't that they wouldn't have cared, it was just that I knew Andrew wouldn't go out of his way to look for me, and wouldn't let them look. They had to know that the Edison Group took me and that it was too dangerous to look. And sooner or later after they came to that realization, they would forget about me and move on to other things. After all, they had only known me for two weeks. Yet they had played a HUGE role in my life, each one of them.  
I was a mess. An insane, constantly drunk or high, mess. Look at what one sip had done to me.  
Look at what staying with the Edison Group for so long could do to me.  
I continued to walk down the hall as silently as possible. Might as well go to the kitchen, make a sandwich, then eat it as I continued to walk around.  
I passed by a room full of computers. The door was open, and I froze as my eyes landed on a particular screen. Slowly, my feet made their way towards the opening. I entered the room and sat down in the seat directly in front of the screen.  
**Name: Derek Souza. Gender: male. DOB: February 28th, 1995. Age: 18. Height: 6'7". Weight: 217 lbs. Eye Color: Green. Race: Caucasian. Supernatural Race: Werewolf. Number Of Kills: 7,** It read. I snorted at the last one, although I was shocked at the fact he had killed seven people.  
Why was he on the screen? Was Derek alright? Were they going after him? What was going on? I took a drag on my cigar, trying not to worry too much. He could handle himself very well if he killed seven people.  
I continued reading. **Derek Souza goes by the alias Derek Brown, as he did before he was sent to Lyle House. He recently was on the cover of a newspaper for murdering three Edison Group workers- Michael Wertz, June Thompson (A.K.A 'Mama June')**-  
The cigar dropped to my feet as I stared open mouthed at the final name.  
-**And Lauren Fellows. **  
I knew she had died recently, even though the last time I saw her was seven months ago, but I would've never thought Derek was responsible for her death.  
"Chloe, it's okay. We aren't going to hurt him. We just need to bring him here to fix him. We thought that the rest of your little clique were successes, but you needed a little more to fix your powers. They're fixed now, apparently. But, also apparently, the others needed some more experimenting as well."  
"Bringing him here will just mess him up even more. "I motioned toward my body with both hands, then at the cigar below. "Look at me. I was much better without you guys. He's a big boy. Derek can survive. Just let him be and don't make it worse." I turned around, planning on leaving the room in my dirty Suicide Silence shirt that was one of the very few shirts I owned, and gray sweatpants, but there was a guard blocking the door.  
He had a gun. Why? What did I even do to worry them enough that they felt the need to bring a gun? Was I finally going to be terminated, after they heard what I previously said?  
His radio squeaked and the guard took it out of his pocket. I listened to a woman say, "Our subject is in sight. He doesn't see us or smell us yet. He's walking with his brother down the street. Heading to what seems to be his apartment. Do we fire?"  
"No," I whispered. No. No. They were not going to capture Derek. He was a strong werewolf that couldn't be captured.  
But what if they fired? What if Simon couldn't escape? Derek could protect Simon-for a while. Depending on how many people there were, they might be brought here.  
I couldn't let that happen.  
I lunged for the radio, successfully removing it from the guard's unsuspecting hands. He was no longer blocking the doorway, so I sprinted. Bolted. I ran so fast it astonished me that I didn't fall to the ground and land on my face. The guard, however, fell. I wanted to laugh. I weaved my way through hall after hall.  
Davidoff didn't follow me. That caused fear to run through me and fill me with adrenaline. What was he doing? Where was he?  
I continued to sprint, turning randomly and not having a clue where I was going. I couldn't use my powers. All I could do was pray that I would find somewhere safe to use the radio and warn Derek. Right now,anyone could hear me.  
Then, the radio squawked. "Hello," the woman snapped. "Dennis, answer me!"  
Anybody around could hear the woman. Hopefully, Derek did as well. I might as well talk now. "Don't fire," I yelled angrily, though I didn't sound as tough because of my panting. "Leave them alone and never bother them again."  
"CHLOE," the woman snapped. "Give the radio back to the guard."  
"Nope." I pushed myself to go faster, seeing a red sign at the end of the hall that read : **EXIT**. I felt like jumping for joy. Considering that I had never gone through these halls before, I wasn't surprised by the fact that there was no guard. They wouldn't need to guard it.  
The woman continued to snap at me. When I reached the exit, I muttered sarcastically, "YOLO," and shoved the door open.  
When it shut, I was completely surrounded by blackness. I leaned against the door, listening to the woman complain and waiting for my eyes to adjust.  
"Derek and Simon are better off without you guys. If you left Derek alone, maybe you wouldn't be short on workers."  
I was able to see that there were stairs to my right. I slowly climbed up them, astonished that nobody had caught me yet. The woman was now radioing someone else. I had completely turned down the volume, hoping that I'd escape to see the sun or moon or clouds or whatever was in the sky for the first time in nearly three years. It was a spiral staircase, with steps that branched off to the side and were longer than others so that you could stop on a certain level. I found that odd. Why was it so dark?  
Finally, I reached the top level. Sun was shining through the windows of the empty hallway. Just now rising. I smiled, relieved. Entering the room, I got a better look out the window.  
There were cars parked outside, the entrance of the parking lot leading out to a busy road. There was a door at the end of the row of windows. To my left side was a bare white wall with no windows.  
I turned around and shut the door completely. Then, I left the building and went outside. I turned around again and tried the door. Locked from the outside.  
There was no going back in for me. No more Jack, no Alan. No more experiments. No more getting beat up by others around there.  
It wasn't until then, standing barefoot outside in the cold of February, that I realized that I didn't have anything with me. No money, no blankets, no shoes, no extra clothes. And what was worst to me- no cigars and no alcohol.  
I _needed_ those things. They were a necessity for me every single day. I couldn't go on without them.  
But I had to now.  
Pulling out the radio and running down the sidewalk, I turned back up the volume and tried not to think about what I had previously thought of.  
The woman seemed to have forgotten me already. She must have thought that I was still underground, being dealt with. I listened carefully, attempting to block out the noise of the street full of cars heading for work while jogging. Derek and Simon were in danger.  
I couldn't come up with a plan to save them. Alerting them would do nothing because they would still have the same powers as they did. They couldn't defend themselves against guns.  
"Their sister's car is at the end of the street. She's coming. They know." A man cursed as I felt relief for a few seconds.  
Tori could help out a lot. She was powerful and could at least defend the two of them until they got in the car and drove off.  
I wanted to say something. Anything. If I yelled loud enough, Derek might just be able to hear me. I wondered how he couldn't tell how many EG workers were there? Could he not smell or hear them?  
"Derek," I yelled loudly into the radio. "Derek, continue walking like nothing's wrong if you hear this. It's Chloe. The Edison Group is surrounding you."  
I'm sure you're thinking that was a stupid thing to say, right? It was the first thing that came to my mind. And it was actually pretty darn smart; if he heard, he knows to get in Tori's car. If he didn't, Tori was most likely picking them up anyway.  
The receiver of my message's side became silent. I immediately panicked, my heart rate picking up.  
Then I heard running. A gunshot. Simon's voice yell,"Derek, what are you doing?! Who was that?!"  
Strident car tires. Tori's voice screaming,"Derek!"  
Gunshot. Scream. Gunshot. Gunshot. Gunshot. Yell. Growl. Gunshot after gunshot after gunshot. Why was the woman still holding the button that allowed me to hear all of this?  
"Where is she?!" Derek growled angrily. I knew that he had been the one shooting.  
A whimper escaped the woman that had previously spoken to me. "I-"  
"Now," Derek roared. I shivered and realized I had stopped running and turned around.  
It was then that I realized how easily I had escaped. It shouldn't have been so quick, so simple. This was the Edison Group. Nothing was simple with them.  
I turned back around, running across the busy road -which earned me several honks- and into the forest. I tried not to run too far away from where the trees began but far enough that I wouldn't be easily seen.  
The noise coming from the other end stopped for a moment before returning. "Chloe," Derek said, relief clear in his tone.  
"Derek," I replied, slowing down. "I don't think I'll be able to talk much until I get away," I panted, picking up speed again as I realized how close they could be. We shouldn't even be talking on the radio because obviously, somebody else had one and could be listening in. Hopefully, he'd realize that quickly and shut up.  
He went quiet.  
I ran as fast as I could, trying not to be too loud and not to fall. Several trees blocked my path, their leaves blocking the rising sun completely from view and making it even colder for me.  
What shocked me the most out of all of this was that I hadn't been caught yet. Were they tracking me, seeing how far I could go without them finally getting to me? I prayed that they weren't toying with me and getting my hopes up.  
What were Derek, Simon, and Tori like now? How much had they changed? How would they react to my _own_ changes?  
A voice came on the radio. It wasn't Derek's.  
"Chloe? What are you doing? Where are you?" Frantic, worried, scared, and upset.  
It was Alan.  
When I heard this voice, I felt like crying. Leaving him and Jack behind was hard for me, and I wish I could bring them along so terribly much.  
But I couldn't. Alan believed their lies. Jack wouldn't stay long- he had a family he desperately wanted to return to, and once he did, I'd probably never see him again.  
What was I thinking? Because I had ran, I'd never see Jack or Alan again. Though Jack would quickly find his own way out, hopefully. Alan would be happy with . I wished that they would both be okay.  
My feet pushed me farther, my hand itching to press the button and talk to Alan for what would most likely be the last time. I would miss them terribly, but my freedom was- as rude as it sounded -honestly more important. Jack would've done the same.  
Then, startling me, Derek's voice. "Chloe?"  
They were both worried because I wasn't replying. I sighed and slowed a bit, my eyes darting around the vibrant green forest, my feet crunching the leaves beneath me. This would be the moment when I'd pull out a cigarette and try not to think too much, giving up. But I couldn't give up and_ I didn't have a freaking cigarette_. I didn't have one. I wouldn't be able to relax, to calm down, without one. Being on the run without a cigarette and a bottle of Whiskey was unimaginable; those were everyday things for me.  
My heart started raising. I was an alcoholic being separated from alcohol for the first time. I didn't know what to do. _I NEEDED IT. _I couldn't imagine life without it.  
Two years. Two long, torturous, unforgivable years of alcohol and cigs. Two years was all it took. Now, just look at me. A seventeen year old girl with all hopes of survival gone because she might not get a cigarette for another two days.  
"Alan, I'm so sorry," I breathed. I didn't want to talk to him. I wanted to talk to him. I couldn't decide which, so I settled for pretending like he was right next to me. Talking to myself, like I was crazy. "Alan, I'm gonna die out here. I have nothing. I-"  
"Chloe, answer me!" Derek cursed angrily, and I felt tears in my eyes. I had nothing. Nothing at all.  
How stupid was I? Why did I think that it'd be better out here, without anything besides the clothes I was wearing and a practically useless radio?  
Oh, gosh. I didn't think they were coming. Maybe they didn't even care about me. Maybe, they were planning on killing me before and they knew that this would be even worse for me because before, I hardly cared about my life. Now, I did. I realized now, now that there was actually a good chance I was going to die soon, I didn't want to die. I just didn't want to be stuck underground anymore.  
I finally replied into the radio. "What?  
I started walking. I didn't run. Part of me actually kinda hoped I _would_ be caught so I could go get another cigar. It astonished me how badly I wanted it.

Well, after all that time, I was free. What was I doing? Wasn't I supposed to be happy now? Now that I didn't have to deal with constant experiments? Now that there wasn't a pair of eyes glued to me, observing each little move I made?

Now, I had nobody to pick me up and take me home. I couldn't say where I was going on the radio. I couldn't do anything to save myself from another awful life on the streets, possibly just as bad as my life underground.  
"I'll find you Chloe," Derek insisted. "We'll figure something out. I promise. We'll see each other again."  
"Derek...?" Alan finally realized who he was. I heard him gasp.  
There was no way we could do this. No way without risking something. He couldn't just give me his phone number and get rid of the phone after we talked because there was a 99% chance that something would go wrong with our plans.  
When would I die? How long did I have until I either starved or got caught or got shot or got my head chopped off or-  
A gun pressed into the back of my head and I realized how little attention I had been paying to the world outside of my brain.  
I guess the answer to my previous question would be now.

* * *

**Well, that didn't turn out as I planned. This actually took a while because I have a whole HUGE project in English on The Rising so I have to finish it soon. I've also been having tons of homework lately. If you live in Southern IN, you probably know the Fall Festival is going on, and I had to work at a booth. I doubt anyone lives in that area, but if you do, did you go to the Fall Fest? I rode The Screamer and Ring of Fire for the first time. I LOVED The Screamer but my arm STILL hurts from Ring of Fire. I rode it Friday.  
Thanks for reading! Please review! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for reviewing last time! Honestly, this is more fun to write than The Only One because even though I love them I'm not good at writing horror stories. The Only One is supposed to have lots of gore in it, but so far, I haven't had many ideas for gore. But Derek will still be in the next chapter, and, as always, he will still be fabulous. I was also planning for a little Chloe/Rafe in it. I don't know if that can happen or not. Relax, though, because in the end it will be Chlerek.  
Also, to GigglingFangirl- You're lucky. Canada sounds a lot more fun than Indiana.  
For a project due October 25th I have to read all of The Rising and have tons of every little element of fiction in it. It takes a lot of work and I haven't had much time to work on  
either of my stories. It's a huge part of my grade, too.  
Last time, my whole chapter was messed up. It somehow deleted a part where I announced Davidoff's presence and all it had was what he said to Chloe. It also didn't indent the paragraphs. I write these in my notes app on my iPhone, and I always reread before putting things on. I indented all paragraphs, hopefully, that doesn't happen this time.  
Lastly, AUSTIN CARLILE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND. Some of you who aren't fans of the band Of Mice And Men probably assume he's my boyfriend, but actually, he's the vocalist of that band. Alan from the last chapter is the guitarist. I think some people don't even bother to click on my stories because they think I'm some girl creepily obsessed with my boyfriend. Yes, I'm creepily obsessed with Austin Carlile and have been since 2009, but he doesn't know I exist. I think that a few of you Austin Mahone fans might know who he is because the Mahomies seem to enjoy telling Carlile's fans that Mahone is the better Austin.  
I'm getting WAY off topic here. Whoops. Anyway, enjoy the second chapter! I refuse to update this after until I've updated The Only One AT LEAST twice. May the chapter begin.**

* * *

Today wasn't a regular day.

It was colder than usual. The sky was darker, it had been snowing on and off, and I just felt... I don't know, off, I guess. Something just felt wrong. As if something bad would happen any second.

I hated it. The last time I got a feeling like this was almost three years ago.

As I walked down the cold, snow covered street under a gray cloud-filled sky with snow falling down onto my shoulder-length jet black hair, I felt the cold wind against my cheeks, making them red. I looked down at my shoes.

Memories flooded back into my brain of her. I remembered her easily, a clear, vivid picture of her beautiful smiling face in my mind. I was constantly desperately yearning to see it again, although after two years, I had lost all hope. She probably wasn't even ALIVE. Why did I think she would even remember me? We'd only known each other for a few weeks.

_A few weeks that felt like a few years, that is_, a voice said in the back of my head.

That's how it felt to me, but probably not to her.

In those few weeks, I had gotten closer to Chloe than I had gotten to Simon in he first few months I lived with the Bae family. She saw right through me, and she still stuck to my side. Chloe didn't care that I had done terrible things in my past or that I was a jerk to almost everyone or that I was a werewolf. She still thought I was a good person, someone worth staying with through total crap, even though I was a dick to her for the first week I was around her.

Chloe still saw me as a great person, even though I was anything but. And that made me start to pay attention to her, start to care for her. My feelings grew for Chloe as we grew closer to each other. I was furious when I saw her holding Simon's hand in the back of Andrew's truck. It took me a while to realize why, and when I did, it was hard to let her out of my sight.

My mind took me back to the bathroom in the coffee shop, back when we were running from Liam. When I had looked Chloe in the eye and saw that she truly cared for me and was willing to take huge risks for me. All I had seen was worry in her pretty face.

In that moment, I had felt something... something change in me. It felt like a huge weight had just been removed off of my chest. For the first time in months, I felt happy.

But it wasn't my decision. I would've never done something like that to Simon. I would never intentionally hurt him. He had a crush on her, she seemed to like him back, and I didn't plan on getting in between them. Even if I was developing a crush on Chloe, I wouldn't interfere.

But if the other side of me, the inhuman side, the Monster inside of me- all the things I called what everyone else called, despite me not wanting them to because it sounded so corny, the wolf side- wanted her so much that he would claim Chloe as he own to keep forever, someone who he would kill for, and I was powerless against him, then there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop him. I would have to hurt Simon to get what he wants and, even if I didn't want to admit it, what I wanted just as much as the monster did.

Chloe was mine and nobody else's and she had been for nearly three years without even knowing it. I had no clue if she was alive or not. Even if she was dead, she was still mine. Nothing could stop me from agonizingly missing her, my mind torturing me with thoughts of what Chloe and I could have had.

Andrew had taken us to another safehouse after we found that Chloe gone. I still clearly remembered that day.

To be honest, I had wanted Chloe to ask me to come. I would feel better if I could stay by her side that day because of the bad feeling I'd had. But when Tori decided to go with her, I figured she would be okay. So I had stayed behind, exploring the house for evidence of the poltergeist Chloe I had talked to. Simon had been training with Andrew.

Then, out of the middle of nowhere, the feeling surprisingly managed to worsen. I felt like throwing up, which was rare, considering I was a werewolf and hadn't even gotten a cold before. Was I going to Change? No. If I were to Change, I would've been sweating, my muscles would have been rippling, I would have had a fever, and I would have been angry with myself for not knowing beforehand so I could tell Chloe.

Then, when I found out, I had been furious with her. Really? Why couldn't she have just refused Margaret's request? I had ran down the stairs, wanting to see her and tell her that she could've just said no to Margaret.

She wasn't there. Tori told me Chloe went off into the woods so she could do whatever, and then I took off. Didn't Chloe know better than to run out, all alone? Why didn't Tori go with her?

Tori had stopped me with a binding spell, even though it wasn't necessary, and told me to just let her be. That she needed time alone, time to think. I had reluctantly agreed. But I would have to check soon. I had to start putting trust in Chloe. She was a big girl and she could handle herself.

I should've known better.

A few months later, still no Dad, still no Chloe. I had started sleeping in Chloe's bed. After we found that she had been captured, I had a breakdown. They knew then that she was my mate. I was open about it then and no longer cared that Simon had a pathetic crush on her. They wouldn't have gone far, anyway. Simon would've dropped Chloe after a month or so, she would've been hurt, and then the four of us- and I say four because it would've affected Tori as well -wouldn't have been the same around each other.

I missed her so much that it physically hurt and all day I would have to have a piece of clothing or an item she'd touched with me. It was stupid, I know, but I had to have something that smelled like her to calm me down, even though it only worked a little bit. Sleeping in her bed, in the room alone, was the only way I managed to sleep. Again, it was stupid. But it was necessary for me.

One day, I had been walking around the perimeter of the house, bored to death with the others gone except for Gwen and Russell all gone to look for clothes. I hadn't been allowed to go. There were several bushes on the right side. They had trash in them. The grass was wet from the rain. It had been sprinkling before, but when I went outside, the rain seemed to fall down harder. It matched my mood.

I was looking at the bushes, seeing all the trash there was in them when I spotted Chloe's necklace.

When I saw it, the ribbon holding it all dirty and ripped and frayed, I froze. It had gone to a black color. That _horrified_ me. In some way, that necklace was connected to her. It changed colors more than once and she'd had it for at least a decade, most likely a few years more than that. I bet that in all the times she had worn it, the necklace had never been black.

Did it mean she was dead?

It was then, when I though about the possibility of her not being alive, of me never being able to see her face again, hear her voice, take in her scent again, that I had crashed down. Literally, I crashed down; I fell to the ground, curled up, buried my fingers in my hair and cried. I don't know how long I cried. It could've been minutes or hours. One thought repeated over and over in my mind. "They killed her. They killed your mate. They killed her. They killed your mate. _They killed her_."

Gwen had came outside to look for me. I saw the pity in her eyes. She told me that she understood how I felt and that everything would be okay.

She was so, so wrong. I hated her for lying to me. No, she couldn't understand how I felt. Gwen had been in a relationship at the time. She had a happy life, never once having an issue.

Nothing was ever going to be okay again. Without Chloe for a DAY, I had quickly realized how much I'd learned to depend on her, how much I'd grown used to her. It was awful not being able to see her.

But Gwen's boyfriend soon experienced a fraction of the pain I went through.

I hadn't been thinking. It was like my brain went off for just 28 seconds. I hated that Gwen was trying to give me false hope. I hated that Chloe was probably dead and that she had to be taken away from me. But even more than anything in the world, I hated the Monster. The Monster that I had let take over my life.

Please don't make some joke about Skillet or Three Days Grace making songs that fit my situation perfectly because neither of them did. I wasn't a monster. I didn't feel like one. I hadn't turned into an animal and if I WAS turning into one, someone would notice. Yeah, I was starting to talk even less and growl more, and I curled up into a ball on Chloe's bed a lot like some dog, but it wasn't like the song described.

I blacked out for 28 seconds. In those 28 seconds, I had snapped Gwen's neck in half.

I hated the Monster inside of me and now, I still do. He's the one to blame for all of this. The only one to blame. It wasn't me, it couldn't possibly be me. I wouldn't kill the people who took Chloe. Why would I do that? No! I'd never do that!

"Mommy, what's on his hand?"

The little boy's voice brought me back to present time. I blinked and looked down at him. He was staring at my hand in fear. When he met my eyes, he trembled and clutched his mother's arm for his life. I looked at her. She glared at me before tucking the boy into his side and leaning down to whisper something in his ear.

Then, I looked down at my hands. They had begun to sprout fur.

I was blaming the Monster inside of me, but I knew that it was my fault. Not his. I had killed Gwen. I had killed all of those people. I had chosen to make Chloe mine and take away her choice of loving another man.

It was all my fault, even if the Monster had helped me make my decisions.

I reached into my coat pocket and took out the pendant. Still black. Still dead. Still cold in my hand. It didn't smell like Chloe anymore. It didn't calm me anymore. The pendant angered me. It made me think of the time I blacked out for a second time and killed Margaret for making Chloe feel bad. This pendant didn't help Chloe then, did it?

Tori told me it did. I didn't believe her. If she let Chloe go out alone, then she also helped the Edison Group kill Chloe.

Putting it back in my pocket, I turned and started going down the sidewalk that led to Dad's street. We'd found him about a year and a half ago. I'd been so relieved. Dad was okay, at least. At least some things would be alright again. I could get some of my life back in order.

I saw Dad sitting in his swing on the porch with a cup of coffee, Simon sitting right next to him. We hadn't really talked for a while. I was busy while running from the Cortezes, another Cabal-the largest in North America out of all four of them-,and I moved around a lot. Now, I lived in the same town. We decided to meet up, but because my car was in the shop being fixed up, I had to walk. Not that I minded that.

When I got to the driveway, they got up and came down the steps to meet me halfway. Simon hugged me and said,"Good to see you again, bro. How've you been?"

"Not bad," I replied. After that, Dad pounded my back.

"I'm glad to see you're okay, Derek. I was so worried!"

I grunted in reply. We went inside and I decided to tell them my decision.

We sat in the living room, waiting for Tori to arrive. Simon now had hot chocolate, and I had bacon. Bacon was amazing.

"So," I began. After I finished swallowing the final piece of bacon, I continued. "I've been thinking a lot lately. This is something I'm kind of scared of doing, but it needs to be done. I might actually be able to relax a little bit if I do this."

"Do what?" Simon inquired hesitantly.

"I need to find Chloe's body, give her a proper burial if she's dead. Which she probably is."

Simon spit his hot chocolate out everywhere. "WHAT?!"

Dad's eyes widened. "Derek, why on Earth would that help you _relax_? If you think she's dead, how do you think it'll help you relax when you know that you'll never get to live the rest of your life with her? You'll freak out and kill someone again!"

I froze. It was rare for Dad to bring up the fact that I had killed people. In fact, this was the first time he ever had. He knew how I felt about it.

Now, not only were we talking about the girl that I had fallen so desperately, hopelessly, so quickly in love with and about how she was dead, but also about the fact that I had murdered people over her.

Just then, there was a loud knock on the door. Tori. Dad got up to get it, happy for a way out of the conversation we were about to have.

"Well, I'm here, it's Derek's birthday in three days, and since I'm not seeing him that day, I have a gift. And I actually think Wolf Boy will love it."

She had gotten a bit taller, her brown hair a little longer- to her shoulders, to be exact -and she was tanner. Tori carried her purse on one arm, her car keys in one hand, and a large bag in the other. Dad shut the door behind her and took her bags. She removed her coat and shoes before joining us in the living room.

The walls were painted a mustard yellow. All of the seating furniture was leather and red. There was a dark brown oval table in the center.

"Great to see you, sweetheart!" Dad exclaimed, embracing her. She hugged him back just as tightly. When she found out Kit was her father, she had already gotten to know him, and she was happy about it. I hadn't had a clue that she was my sister until he told me. Simon, however, had been told before all of us.

Tori sat down next to me in the rocking chair. "Dad, hand me the bag. I want Derek to go ahead and open the gift while I'm still here."

Dad gave the bag to me. Tori nodded, giving me permission to look inside. I opened it and revealed a box in wrapping paper.

I looked up and glared at her. She giggled, saying,"Open the box."

I sighed and returned my attention to the shoebox covered by black wrapping paper that had Taylor Lautner pictures taped all over it. Removing it from the bag, I noticed that it was a little heavy.

I ripped off the paper and opened the box immediately. When I saw what was inside, I frowned, confused as to why Tori would think a bunch of papers with a weird, small, difficult to read font on them all was something I would love. Yeah, I loved reading about supernaturals and the history of us, but this didn't seem like something I would enjoy.

"What the heck?" I inquired, looking at her. Tori laughed again. When I growled, she abruptly stopped.

"Look through the pages. You'll find something you like. Eventually." She sat back, rocking slowly back and forth with a smirk on her lipstick-covered lips. Tori seemed to enjoy smothering her eyelids and lips with makeup.

Looking back down at the papers in the box , I took them out and began skimming over them. I realized this was about the Edison Group, ideas they had for more experiments on those they could find from previous projects. It was interesting, but not that much now that I never really put much thought into the experiments anymore. So why would she think I'd 'love' it?

Turning another page, I gasped as my eyes found the first line. No way. NO WAY. I couldn't possibly believe what I was reading. It was like a letter from someone. How did Tori even get it?

**Chloe Saunders has been held in the bottom level of the facility for the past two years, never going up and never seeing the sunlight. She's my best friend and has been since we got to know each other. I really needed someone when I had been caught and I found someone greater than I could imagine anyone would be after staying in that place. I was able to tell her anything without worrying about her telling Davidoff. It was great.**

**But after a while, I was beginning to feel comfy down there. It wasn't bad once I got used to it. In fact, it was fun. All I had to do was take pills, exercise a lot, train, and let them draw some blood every once in a while to see how the pills were working. In return, I could play video games in the lounge with Chloe, get whatever movies or TV shows I wanted and watch them in my room upstairs, and hang out with Chloe whenever I felt like it. If I didn't know how much Chloe hated the Edison Group workers and that they did awful, awful things to her- way worse than they would ever do to me- I would say that it was amazing and great and that I didn't have any problems with the EG. Even creepy Dr. Davidoff seemed nice once I got to know him.**

**While I was getting even more comfortable and trusting and honest, Chloe was staring to sleep even less and lie about everything and tried to stay away from everyone else if it was an option. She would freak out and tell me I couldn't trust anyone, that they were going to kill me, if I didn't stop being kind to them. Did you not read that last sentence? How crazy does that sound? They would KILL me for being nice?! I couldn't believe her. They had realized their mistakes and fixed them. They weren't bad at all. The Edison Group genuinely wanted to help.**

I was tired of Chloe's nonstop spoken anger toward everyone here. I loved her. She was my best friend. But I was tired of her. She couldn't shut up about how much she hated this. So, I took up the offer Davidoff had for me.

**Soon enough, I was seeing the outside world again everyday, recruiting supernaturals, experiments and then bringing them back to Davidoff. I rarely saw Chloe, but then I caught an experiment and now they're even closer to Chloe than I was. His name was Jack and he seemed like a pretty nice guy at first, but after seeing how messed up Jack made Chloe... I don't like him anymore.**

**Jack hates the Edison Group just as much as Chloe, so they can relate and bond over their hatred. In fact, they do that pretty much everyday while Chloe smokes pot and he drinks a can of Budweiser. If it weren't for him introducing Chloe to drugs, she wouldn't need them so much. The last time I saw her, she smelled like cigarette smoke and her voice was a little different. Instead of freaking out over the Edison Group, she was freaking out about not having hardly any money to buy a pack of Marlboro cigarettes and a bottle of whiskey. Chloe said she'd have to do it 'the hard way.' I have no idea what that means nor am I sure I want to.**

**I don't know how Jack got her to try some alcohol. I doubt I ever will. Maybe it's because Chloe came to the realization that down in this underground facility was where she would spend the rest of her life. No more daylight. No more animals. No more humans. No more plants. No more happiness. I have to admit, although I loved the workers, I hated living there. It was nice, but I never realized until they stuck me down there that it was surprisingly hard without those things.**

**Her dad died without having a clue where she was. Her aunt was murdered by some sick werewolf who thought it would be fun to kill her, but Davidoff told me not to let her know the dude's name. Not even let her know the guy was a werewolf. Honestly, though, and as rude as it might sound, Chloe probably doesn't care that her aunt died. I heard some of the things Lauren said to her. I was disgusted. It was hard for me to wonder what Chloe's reaction would be to her death. I was looking for a guy named Peter when I got the news, so I don't know what she said about it. When I got back, the only difference was that the light, the angry expression in her eyes was gone, replaced with dead eyes. She was getting drunk, getting high,more often.**

**Jack seemed to be worried for her. Even he didn't smoke and drink that much. I could tell he regretted some of his decisions. He felt responsible.**

**Chloe was experimented on more than I'll ever know or experience myself. She's basically a zombie, and I'm not making a pun there about her being a necromancer. She has obviously given up.**

**I'm sure you want a few other differences she's made. When I first met her, she had a love for movies. But I think that they couldn't distract her. They didn't help take Chloe's mind off of her pain, her fear. It only fed those things. She decided to turn to music and that noticeably made a difference in her mood. Chloe was happier. But she didn't listen to pop, rap, or country or things like that. She listened to heavy metal- Slipknot, Suicide Silence, Morbid Angel, Korn, Pantera, Whitechapel. Stuff like that. It made her happy. The lyrics gave Chloe hope that she would soon return to her friends and father. She constantly talked about how she hoped that these three people she was on the run with had found somewhere safe to stay and wouldn't worry about her. Though she certainly worried about them.**

**Back to music. Chloe loved heavy metal. The writers became her obsession. She took in their every word like it was the oxygen she breathed. One guy especially caught her attention named Mitch Lucker. He was from the band Suicide Silence. Chloe talked about how their lyrics seemed to be directed at her, how there was always a song that could help her get through hard times. He was 'the kindest man to exist and would always be there for her,' even if he didn't know she existed. She went on about how awesome he was and how she would do anything just to see Suicide Silence live.**

**Mitch Lucker died recently after turning 28 on November 1st, 2012 in a motorcycle accident. He had a wife and a six year old daughter named Kenadee. I think out of Chloe, his wife, and Kenadee, Chloe was the most hurt. She had a worse reaction to that than anything else that had happened while I was around her. When she cried over it, I heard her say- as if to him -"My mom died on me when I was Kenadee's age and even then I didn't feel so sad about her death. Even though I was smart enough to know that I would need her growing up, I still didn't feel as awful as I do now. Why'd you have to die on me too, Mitch? You helped me through so much and then you die on me!"**

**I can't ever forgot hearing those words. I could never imagine becoming so attached to someone that didn't even know of my existence. I felt so bad for her but I couldn't know what Chloe was going through. I wasn't really attached to anything and never had been.**

**Besides shifting from being movie obsessed to music obsessed and becoming an addict/alcoholic, Chloe actually hadn't changed much since I first met her. Maybe she's a little bit sassier, skinnier, a tiny bit taller, a bit paler, her voice a little different from smoking, but there aren't a huge amount of changes.**

**I wish I was down in the facility while typing this so I could give you a few words from Chloe, but I don't think I'll even tell her about this. She would beg me to take her to you, which I would love to do, but I also don't wanna be dead. So I won't.**

I didn't know what to think. How to process what I'd just read. I could only think about the fact that Chloe had been alive all this time and that she was miserable about it. I hated that she felt this way. She didn't deserve to.

I just sat there. I felt everyone's eyes on me. But I ignored them. I couldn't talk right now. I couldn't even move. I felt sick. All of what is just read was coming back to me and I knew that Chloe had to want to die, to be planning on it, and that I could t do anything about it. Why did she have to go through all of this? She didn't deserve it!

I slowly lifted my eyes to meet Tori's. At whatever she saw in them, hers widened. "Derek? Are you okay-"

I hadn't done this in a long time. I rarely did it. So I was surprised when tears started to pour from my eyes, when I curled up in the seat, thinking Chloe was going to die and that all this time she had been alive and that I hadn't saved her and that I would never see her again and that I was a terrible person and-

And I was starting to Change right then and there on the seat.

After forcing myself to Change back when it was midnight, I went inside the house. I was hungry and cold and covered in scratches from the branches when I fell. I immediately went to the kitchen and ate a whole box of waffles. When I was almost finished I heard Simon and Das talking in the room Simon stayed in while visiting Dad. I didn't listen. I didn't really care, to be honest.

That night, I didn't sleep. Didn't try to. Early in the morning Simon got up so he could head to his apartment and get ready for work.

Simon and I headed off to his new apartment. We had almost gotten there without saying a word to each other. As we neared the apartment, I swore I smelt people around the area, but I knew it was my mind playing tricks on me.

Nobody would be in their yard at this hour, let alone several people. I would hear them. My mind had done this to me before.

But then I heard it. I knew I wasn't imagining things. I would do anything to hear it again. I didn't even care about the last sentence I heard. "Derek! Derek, continue walking like nothing's wrong if you hear this. The Edison Group is surrounding you."

Chloe.

* * *

I froze. How had I not noticed him coming? My hand gripped the radio as Derek spoke. "Chloe, just tell me where you are. I'll come get you."

The man, gun still on the back of my head, spoke into his own radio which I hadn't known he had.

"We can't tell you that, Derek. If Chloe gives you any information, I'll shoot her. My gun is pressed against the back of her head. She can confirm that."

I swallowed hard.

Derek growled into the microphone of the radio. "Don't you dare touch her. Let her go."

Just listening to his growl gave me goosebumps.

The man just dropped the radio. "You're coming back. Do you know just how big your punishment will be? I can't wait to see what Davidoff does to you. Maybe he'll take away your cigars."

My heart thudded against my chest, desperately yearning for escape. Escape from this man, escape from this imprisonment, escape from Davidoff, from Diane. I wanted to run to the others, the ones that could help me, and run far from here. I just wanted to escape everything. I wanted to escape my addiction, especially.

What could I do? How could I escape this? I had seen movies before where the person in my position turned around, startling the person holding the gun before grabbing the barrel and removing it from the person's hands. The problem was that he was stronger than me and I had no chance of surviving against him.

I held the radio close to my lips and said,"Derek, we'll work something out. Just give me a second."

The man behind me began to say,"Wha-"

He was cut off as I quickly turned around and jammed the radio antennae into his eyeball. I hadn't meant to get his eye, but, hey, that was even better. I yanked the gun from his hand, dropping the radio, and struck him as hard as I could with the barrel. He fell to the ground, curling up. Figured, since i had never seen him before. I grabbed the radio and sprinted.

Derek suddenly started yelling into his radio. "What just happened?!"  
Still sprinting I replied,"I told you to give me-"

I fell to the ground, my foot getting caught on a log. I fell on my face. Ouch.

Blood oozed out of my nose and I wiped it off of my upper lip. "I told you to give me a second."

We really needed to stop talking. They would catch me if I continued. Now they knew I had escaped the guard.

Then an annoyed,"Let me talk to her, wolf boy!"

I smiled and pushed myself up. But when I realized that the Edison Group had to be listening, taking in all this information and trying to find where I am, I frowned. We couldn't talk. I had to move.

I started sprinting again, waiting to hear Tori's voice on the radio, telling me that she actually sorta missed me little. As I picked up pace, I still didn't hear her.

Good. Maybe Derek stopped her, having already figured out what I just did.

I started to change my direction a little so that I would be closer to the road. Because the last time I saw a clock was hours ago, when it had to be dark out, I had no clue what time it was. I was getting tired of running. Honestly, I probably hadn't ran since they caught me outside of Andrew's safehouse.

My mind went back to that day. I had felt so bad about what I had done to those innocent souls. I shivered.

An idea came to my mind and I felt extremely stupid for not thinking of it before. Why did I not think of it? How dumb was I?

Running in the direction that I entered the woods from, I soon broke out into a familiar street.

In front of me was a playground. It looked innocent enough-a narrow strip of park with a line of swings and slides, a big plastic play center at the end-but between the equipment and trees were a lot of shadows.

How long had I been running?

Across the street was the back of the coffee place. This was the playground where I met Liam Malloy and Ramon Martinez at. They were now names I knew and wanted desperately by the Edison Group.

* * *

**In honor of Mitch Lucker, I put him in the story. He is a real person, and if you want to know more about him, his IG is mitchypoosays . He died on November 1st in a motorcycle accident early in the morning after getting in a fight with his wife Jolie. About 1/4 of all of the Directioners and Beliebers fandoms seem to have said that he deserves to die and little Kenadee should kill herself. Thank you for being kind if you knew about him and disliked him, but didn't say awful things like that. Look at his last post on IG before he died and you'll see something interesting and even more interesting because it was his last post. The caption gives me chills every time I read it because he certainly is what the caption said. **

**I know I said that Chloe's POV would be much longer but since I wanted to post this on November 1st, I couldn't add anything else. I promise the next chapter will be fun and interesting. You'll find out what the Edison Group added to Chloe in it.  
Please review! **


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